By Ayinde Muhammed
On the 10th of April 2025, the University of ilorin Audtorium welcomed guest from the east, south, north and west of the world as the first professor in the department of Forest resources management, faculty of Agriculture, Professor Folaranmi Dapo Babalola gave his inaugural lecture.
Babalola, an Igosun born forest Professor delivered the 277th inaugural lecture of the university of Ilorin titled; “The Beliefs, Myths and Facts about Forests and Connection to Humanity”.
Professor Babalola who took the audience through his academic sojourn of how he initially wanted to study Medicine and become a medical doctor but switched to forestry because he didnt meet up with the required admission cut-off point for medicine.
He narrated how he settled for forestry through changing of course after persuasion from his uncle Dr Adebayo A. Omoloye (now a professor of Entomology) at the university of Ibadan.
Professor Babalola in his lecture, opined that the relationship between forests, trees and humanity is frequently misunderstood and masked in misconceptions that obscure the realities thereby requires urgent needs for interventions.
According to him, the first misconception people have about forest is that ” Forests are endless and can be exploited indefinitely”
He clarified that many people assume that forest are vast and will never run out, leading to unsustainable logging and deforestation, however, forests are fragile ecosystems that require careful management.
Professor Folaranmi while clarifying the belief that forests are dangerous and inhabited by evil spirits, noted that while forest hold cultural, traditional and spiritual significance, they are ecosystem rich in diversity.
Other myths clarified by the scholar include; forest are just trees, forests recover quickly after deforestation, forests are useless and should be cleared for agriculture; and fotests are hideouts for criminals and should be destroyed.
The Unilorin don enjoined government at all levels to stop destroying the forests because of security issues but focus on security measures that address criminal activities while preserving the ecological and economic benefits that forests provide.
The Google scholar noted how he has contributed significantly to science in forestry through research collaborations leading to scholarly publications.
“To date, I have authored two books, and six books chapters, 108 journal articles, 19 technical reports and 41 conference proceedings, amounting to a total of 176 scientific publications”, he said.
” I have also produced 50 non-refereed articles, speeches, articles in book of abstracts, and conference posters. This makes the pool of my scientific contribitions to over 200.
He also noted that his Google Scholar citations currently stand at 1221 and that he has research collaborations, network for scientific publications, and attended scientific gatherings in over 40 countries of the world.
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